AnimalsCroatia
Pen shell Fun facts for kids
Pinna nobilis
The pen shell lives in seagrass on the Mediterranean sea floor and eats tiny floating bits it sieves from water.
- Where it lives
- in seagrass on the Mediterranean sea floor
- What it eats
- tiny floating bits it sieves from water
- How big it is
- as tall as a grown-up's waist
Fun facts about the pen shell
The ones Sammy likes best. She tells them in the game, too.
Its shiny golden threads were once woven into sea silk, one of the rarest cloths in the world.
It is the biggest shellfish in the Mediterranean Sea and can grow as tall as a grown-up's waist.
It stands upright with its pointy end stuck in the sand, like a giant fan planted in the seabed.
It holds on to the seabed with a bundle of fine, silky threads that its soft foot makes.
Tiny shrimps and crabs often move in and live inside its shell like little lodgers.
One pen shell can change from being a boy to being a girl during its life.
Inside, its shell is shiny like a pearl, and sometimes it even makes small reddish brown pearls.
One pen shell can clean lots of seawater, helping keep the sea nice and clear.
Riddle
Can a friend guess it?
Read the clues to someone, one at a time, without saying the animal. How many clues do they need? Fewer is better, just like in the game.
I live in seagrass on the sea floor, and once I'm grown up I never move.
I eat by sucking in seawater and sieving out tiny bits of food, which helps keep the sea clear.
Little shrimps and crabs often move inside my shell and live there like lodgers.
Long ago, people wove my shiny golden threads into sea silk, one of the rarest cloths ever.
I'm the biggest shellfish in the Mediterranean, standing upright in the sand as tall as a grown-up's waist.
Sammy might be thinking of a pen shell.
In Thought Zoo, Sammy picks an animal and you ask her yes-or-no questions to find it. You'll find the pen shell in the Croatia adventure.
Play the CroatiaComing to iPad, iPhone and Android on 12 January 2027
